"What the fuck happened?!" about sums this one up. Looking forward to more info.

seriously you need to get to the bottom of what the hell happened. This kind of thing rarely happens.

What a step down! From Ryan Gosling to Mark Wahberg? Seriously? He's not even half the actor Gosling is. What was going to be an amazing film is now a HUGE disappointment.

This thing kinda happened on LOTR too. Stuart Townsend had been rehearsing the Aragorn part for a month or so and shooting was about to begin when they felt that Townsend wasn't old enough for the part so Viggo Mortensen replaced him.

My guess is that for some reason Gosling hasn't been able to meet the vision Peter Jackson had of the character. As for the change for Wahlberg, I like it. Directed by someone like Jackson I think Marky Mark could be a great choice.

Mark is a good actor and Ryan is way to young to be playing a father of a 14 year-old, even he is gained 20 lbs and now has a beard

Agreed with Mike - Gosling is waaaay too young-looking to have been totally right for the role. Wahlberg is pretty damn good, too. This doesn't hurt the project in my eyes at all.

I'll third that. Definitely seems to me that age would have been a major factor in changing to Wahlberg, I don't think it would have been easy to buy Gosling as the father - especially considering how he's portrayed in the book.

Fourth'd

Mark is a much better actor for this role. I love Ryan Gosling but Wahlberg is at the age where he can play a fatherly role perfectly. Not to mention he is also an amazing actor.

To the above poster I think the same thing applies to Stuart Townsend. He was too young for Aragorn. Vigo was an amazing Aragorn. It's actually kind of interesting...with his hair right and the stubble just right I see Stuart as a much younger Aragorn. Good casting, but the age just wasn't right for Strider/Aragorn.

just as long as Mark doesnt jsut frown thru the whole film.
I f he can carry off the "boat in a bottle scene" with a bit of emotional depth it should be all good

Oh man, what a torpedo! Variety said it well "The character of a sensitive, mourning father will be rewritten on the fly into a tough-talking Philly cop who won't take sh*t from anybody." The age issue is not as big as the talent or humanity issue.

I'm with George (and Variety, for that matter). Mark has done nothing but disappoint since Boogie and anything besides a comedy, his age may be convenient for this role but it still makes no sense.

It is unfortunate how the world but especially the entertainment world is based on a person’s appearance in order for them to be successful. Even though it is said that we live in a country that is unbiased to peoples appearance or race it is simply not true, there is always those incidences where someone prettier or younger will get a job over somebody who is not as young or attractive. This is a problem that exists in the real world but the entertainment world seems to be based on young good looking people. Ryan Gosling was recently casted for the role of Jack Salomon in the upcoming production of the movie The Lovely Bones but he was replaced by Mark Walberg, due to his twenty pound weight gain and his untidy facial hair. Ryan Gosling said that the drastic change to his appearance was all in order to fit the character of Jack Salomon better; Jack Salomon is an older father is grieving for his murdered daughter. Though, it was Ryan’s “Character development ideas,” that lost him the role to someone thinner and clean shaven. It amazes me that we live in a world where the importance of a person’s appearance is so great that it can affect your employment status. Though, it is not just employment status that is affected but how is the media affecting the rest of world. It is unfortunate that most of us feel that we all have to reach certain standards to look the medias definition of perfect in order to be successful. I don’t think that Mr. Gosling should have lost his job over his appearance. A few extra pounds is not going to change the fact that he is a talented actor, or that he is any less capable of capturing the hearts of his audience.